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Le Crépuscule des idoles, suivi de Le cas Wagner

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Ce titre aux accents wagnériens est emblématique de la pensée nietzschéenne. Pratiquant la philosophie à coups de marteau, Nietzsche cherche avant tout à précipiter la fin d'un monde et le déclin de ses croyances.

Depuis Socrate, l'homme théorique, soucieux d'édifier des systèmes conformes aux exigences de la raison, semble avoir triomphé de l'homme tragique, assumant, à l'instar de Dionysos, les contradictions de la vie. Ainsi, la philosophie, la morale puis la science, au fil des siècles, sont parvenues à bâtir de remarquables constructions théoriques visant à occulter le caractère incertain et protéiforme du devenir et à satisfaire le goût commun des hommes pour l'ordre et la cohérence. La religion du progrès, notre foi en la Providence, les inventions de la philosophie de l'Histoire, le credo scientiste sont autant d'expressions d'un seul et même besoin de fictions consolatrices.

Dans un style étincelant et apocalyptique, Nietzsche nous fait ici clairement pressentir l'effondrement d'un monde. Un ouvrage très "fin de siècle" pour les amoureux du soleil couchant. --Paul Klein

250 pages, Paperback

Published January 7, 1993

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About the author

Friedrich Nietzsche

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Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German classical scholar, philosopher, and critic of culture, who became one of the most influential of all modern thinkers. He began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest person to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869 at the age of 24, but resigned in 1879 due to health problems that plagued him most of his life; he completed much of his core writing in the following decade. In 1889, at age 44, he suffered a collapse and afterward a complete loss of his mental faculties, with paralysis and probably vascular dementia. He lived his remaining years in the care of his mother until her death in 1897 and then with his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche. Nietzsche died in 1900, after experiencing pneumonia and multiple strokes.
Nietzsche's work spans philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism, and fiction while displaying a fondness for aphorism and irony. Prominent elements of his philosophy include his radical critique of truth in favour of perspectivism; a genealogical critique of religion and Christian morality and a related theory of master–slave morality; the aesthetic affirmation of life in response to both the "death of God" and the profound crisis of nihilism; the notion of Apollonian and Dionysian forces; and a characterisation of the human subject as the expression of competing wills, collectively understood as the will to power. He also developed influential concepts such as the Übermensch and his doctrine of eternal return. In his later work, he became increasingly preoccupied with the creative powers of the individual to overcome cultural and moral mores in pursuit of new values and aesthetic health. His body of work touched a wide range of topics, including art, philology, history, music, religion, tragedy, culture, and science, and drew inspiration from Greek tragedy as well as figures such as Zoroaster, Arthur Schopenhauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Wagner, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
After his death, Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth became the curator and editor of his manuscripts. She edited his unpublished writings to fit her German ultranationalist ideology, often contradicting or obfuscating Nietzsche's stated opinions, which were explicitly opposed to antisemitism and nationalism. Through her published editions, Nietzsche's work became associated with fascism and Nazism. 20th-century scholars such as Walter Kaufmann, R.J. Hollingdale, and Georges Bataille defended Nietzsche against this interpretation, and corrected editions of his writings were soon made available. Nietzsche's thought enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1960s and his ideas have since had a profound impact on 20th- and early 21st-century thinkers across philosophy—especially in schools of continental philosophy such as existentialism, postmodernism, and post-structuralism—as well as art, literature, music, poetry, politics, and popular culture.

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February 28, 2025
ca fait reflechir de baisé
Profile Image for Tache D'Encre.
84 reviews
March 31, 2024
Nietzsche est pour l'instant mon philosophe préféré. Même si je ne me retrouve pas en accord avec l'entièreté de sa pensée, ce qui est normal, je trouve toutes ses réflexions très intéressantes. De plus, il est extrêmement drôle et son livre est parsemé d'ironie et d'humour et j'ai souvent ri. Avouez que ce n'est pas commun pour de la philosophie !

Le début peut paraître compliqué, car étant une philosophe allemand, Nietzsche a tendance à inventer des mots. Mais c'est le premier que je lis de lui et je l'ai dans l'ensemble bien compris donc ne vous inquiétez pas à ce sujet !
Profile Image for Liam Waw.
54 reviews1 follower
September 27, 2025
Crépuscule des idoles dinguerie par contre le cas Wagner on sssssoufle sayé frr
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